According to Mahayana Buddhism, all key aspects of one's path to enlightenment must fall within the framework of the union of compassion and wisdom. This aspect of wisdom, or insight, refers to the profound understanding of the ultimate nature of reality, which is described as 'emptiness' (shunyata; Tibetan tong pa nyi). The Tibetan tradition perceives the cultivation of the view of emptiness as one of the most important aspects of a Buddhist spiritual practice. In fact, according to Tibetan Buddhism, it is the insight into emptiness that serves as the actual antidote to fundamental ignorance that underlies our perpetual unenlightened existence. Thus the cultivation of the view of emptiness is considered critical also in Vajrayana meditation as well.

There are three principal methods by which the view of emptiness is taught. One is in the context of an in depth theoretical study of the teachings of Indian Madhyamaka masters such as Nagarjuna (2^nd century CE), Shantideva (5^th century CE) and Chandrakirti (7^th century CE). Tsongkhapa's writings on the Middle Way philosophy are highly authoritative in elucidating the standpoints of these Indian masters. The second is the introduction of the view of emptiness within the context of exploring the ultimate nature of mind, especially in relation to a deity yoga meditation or the practice of Mahamudra or Dzokchen. Finally, there is a specific set of teachings developed that target exclusively the cultivation of the view of emptiness known as a 'Guide to the View' (ta tri). This later, which is especially popular in the Geluk and Sakya traditions, involves engaging in a meditation whereby one searches for the nature of one's own self by subjecting its existence to a process of elimination and identification.